Jewish Leader Condemns Weiner for Nazi Comparison

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner's campaign for the New York mayoralty has come under attack from Jewish leaders who are furious that he compared the city police department’s crime fighting strategy to Nazi Germany, the New York Post reported.

Speaking at a campaign stop Sunday before a largely black church congregation, Weiner blasted the NYPD's stop-and-frisk program that Mayor Michael Bloomberg has credited with helping to bring the city's murder rate to record lows.

"Last year, more than 700,000 in New York were stopped — the overwhelming majority of them were young men of color. Ninety-seven percent of them did nothing wrong," said Weiner, according to The Post.

"And the mayor stood up and said, 'Wait a minute, statistically this and statistically that.' Well, you can have 100 percent statistical reduction in crime if you stop everybody," Weiner said.

"You could have 1938 Germany, because everyone has to show their papers."

New York state Sen. Simcha Felder, a Democrat whose district includes a large Orthodox Jewish community, demanded that Weiner apologize.

"His comments were shocking and disgraceful . . . He should apologize," Felder told The Post. "Anyone who uses the Holocaust frivolously diminishes the tragedy that occurred. Weiner clearly stepped over the line."

Weiner is among the pack of Democratic candidates in the mayoral race who have blasted stop-and-frisk, which many black and Latino leaders claim unfairly targets minority men.
Weiner's campaign spokesman later tried to clarify his comparison of New York to Nazi Germany.

"The context of the reference was the argument made by some that stopping innocent citizens was an acceptable cost for public safety," Weiner spokeswoman Barbara Morgan told The Post. "He clearly was not equating 1938 Nazi Germany to New York City."

Weiner, who is the only Jewish mayoral candidate, has emerged as the leading Democrat in the race for mayor despite a sexting scandal that forced him to step down from Congress in disgrace two years ago.

A recent poll by Quinnipiac University puts Weiner in the lead in the crowded Democratic primary field, with 25 percent of voters supporting him. He is trailed by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn with 22 percent.

Quinn, who is vying to become the city's first lesbian mayor, had led all polls before Weiner entered the race in the spring.

Weiner entered the race with a campaign fund of $4 million left over from an earlier run for the mayoralty that he amassed before withdrawing.

The Democrat, who is married to Huma Abedin, a former top aide to Hillary Clinton, on Monday reported raising $8929,000 in additional contributions, the most of any candidate, the New York Daily News reported.